A lot of the prospects that we wanted to see perform are performing. Those that needed to be kept at glove positions if possible are getting that chance.
I'm still a non-believer on Triunfel. The combined laziness and arrogance are a noxious cocktail for me. Baron has (apparently) the arrogance but after being humbled is putting in the work. His overhaul is gonna be worth watching. I don't expect big-league results for another half-decade, but that's okay. Choi will be up there already holding down the fort. ;)
The news actually isn't that bad for Robles. The complaint on him was that his stuff lost all control after 4 innings. Well...if his arm was locking up and hurting from the chips in his elbow then 4 innings might have been all he could give.
Cleaning out the elbow sets him back a bit, but a strong showing with control for the last 4 months of the year could bump him way up for us as well.
That's not even mentioning players like Morla (3B built like a brick outhouse and clubbing with authority), Pimentel (OF who makes Morla look like an undeveloped stripling and is just 18 with a beautiful swing) and a bunch of the other teen arms like Mieses and Shipers and Taylor. They all have plenty to prove as far as pitch recognition or health and stuff concerns, but they've got a head start in the talent department.
We've got a hole in the system right now. Our hitters are either really young or about to need to prove themselves, with only a couple of exceptions. Carp is gonna be gone soon (I don't think he has been saying very nice things about the org that is trapping him in AAA), Mangini keeps getting injured, Wilson is aging out as a prospect while not growing, and Halman is similarly stunted with his pitch recognition.
But we're restocking nicely with some of the guys you mentioned...and how many more players do we want to come through AAA right now than the Smoak/Ackley/Pineda/Lueke grouping we have arriving this year?
That's a good chunk for any org. Now we just need to back it up with another wave in a year or two. Poythress, Chavez, Seager, Wilhelmsen, Tenbrink, Paxton and either Cole or Rendon will be putting their names in that hat for that wave.
Choi, Franklin, and a metric ton of starters and relievers will be trying to show up in the one after that.
Let's just keep adding to the good applicants. :)
~G
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